Jan 20, 2016

Wikipedia 2) The B-52 was designed to carry nuclear weapons during the Cold War, but it has only carried conventional ordnance in combat.

USAF 3) There were huge leaps in aviation happening when the B-52 was being designed, and it went through 6 major redesigns during the 5 year design period. The YB-52 pictured below was the second-to-last major redesign.

Wikipedia 4) A B-52A was used to carry the North American X-15. The X-15 achieved the record for fastest manned powered aircraft, with a speed of Mach 6.72.

Wikipedia 5) There have been 744 B-52s built, but currently there are only 85 in active service, with 9 in reserve.

USAF 6) The B-52 can carry up to 70,000 pounds of ordnance, or the equivalent of 30 fully-loaded Cessna 172s.

Wikipedia 7) Production ended in 1962, which means the youngest B-52 is 53 years old.

9) The B-52 is expected to serve until the 2040s. That's over 90 years of service.

USAF 10) In 1964, a B-52 configured as a testbed to investigate structural failures flew through severe turbulence, shearing off its vertical stabilizer. The aircraft was able to continue flying, and landed safely.

Wikipedia 11) The navigator and radar navigator sit in the lower deck of the aircraft. These are the two seats that eject downward.

Wikipedia 12) To comply with the SALT II Treaty requirements, cruise missile-capable aircraft had to be identifiable by spy satellites. To comply, the B-52 "G" models were modified with a curved wing root fairing.

Wings Over The Rockies Museum 13) Early models had cabin temperature problems; the upper-deck would get hot, because it was heated by the sun, while the navigation crew would sit on the cold fuselage floor.

Wikipedia 14) In 1961, a B-52G broke up in midair over Goldsboro, NC. Two nuclear bombs on board were dropped in the process, but didn't detonate. After the bombs were recovered, the Air Force found that five of the six stages of the arming sequence had been completed.

Wikipedia 15) In 1972, B-52 tail-gunner Albert Moore shot down a MiG-21 over Vietnam. It was the last recorded bomber-gunner to shoot down an enemy aircraft.

Texas Aviation Online 16) After the Soviet Union fell in 1991, 365 B-52s were destroyed under the START treaty. The aircraft were stripped of usable parts, chopped into 5 pieces with a 13,000 pound steel blade, and sold for scrap at 12 cents per pound.

Jan 1, 2016

This is a novel way to capture the enemy. It is an interesting illustration and story about the Anzio Beachhead in Italy in WWII. The illustration was by Rudoph Charles von Ripper and text by my father, Clif Hullinger. My father received a battlefield Commission at Anzio.______________

"Sgt. Dan Harding who took over my platoon when I made First Sgt. had them laying concertina wire in front of an infantry position one night. They saw these two soldiers in a foxhole and moved the wire out to include them. Dan went over to them and asked them how it was going. They answered in German! "

"Turned out it was a German outpost with two very scared recruits in it. He promptly took them prisoner and the barbed wire line made a sharp bend at that point.The sketch was made for the Stars and Stripes in Italy in 1944 by Austrian born soldier-of-fortune, artist Rudoph Charles von Ripper. The sketch shows Sgt Harding of my platoon laying barb wire concertina at Anzio. Von Ripper drew this because the squad "fenced" in a German outpost before identifying them and capturing them. The wire took a sharp job at that point!"